Friday, September 18, 2015

The Amlicites – Part II

Continuing with the
Amlicites and how evil men take over governments as normally good men stand
around and watch as evil leaders build a cadre of evil men about them for their own
protection and the subjugation of others, even an entire nation.

Throughout history, including that of the
Nephites, certain people have always wanted to be popular. Some have tried to go to
great lengths to get it—often, however, they are not interested in the people
they claim to serve at all, but only in themselvesNow it was not the
intention of Amlici to bring the people of Nephi a better government, nor was
it the intention of his followers who wanted him to be their king to think they
were helping the people. Nor was it just that the people of Nephi opposed to
having kings rule of them, nor their concern with the level of government they were
asked to change and the new type of government they were asked to accept.It was, as it has
always been and always will be, a matter of freedom! After king Mosiah II
taught them the principles of leadership, kingship, and following the
commandments of God, and most importantly that when a king rules “all his
iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed,
and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all
manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated” (Mosiah 29:36), and also made
clear that “these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to
the commandments of God.”And after Mosiah sent his information
among the people they were convinced of the truth of his words and they
relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that
every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, “and every man expressed a willingness to
answer for his own sins” (Mosiah 29:37).One can only wonder at what must have been the full content
of Mosiah’s lengthy written message he sent among the people (Mosiah 29:4) that
Mormon abridged at this point. The fact that the people understood from what
was more fully written that “every man should have an equal chance throughout
all the land,” and be responsible for his own acts, would have been a major
leap forward in governmental direction at the time.We need only recall that sometime around 490 B.C., during
the days of Jacob, brother to Nephi and son of Lehi, that a man named Sherem,
who is described as “having a perfect knowledge of the language of the people
wherefore he could use much flattery and much power of speech” (Jacob 6:4).
Sherem’s purpose seems clear that he was after the financial support of the
people and in bringing down the church and the people’s belief in the old ways,
or religion of their fathers, with him establishing a new, “correct” religion.

On the other hand, Amlici (left) was interested in changing
the government back to a kingship and the nation back to a kingdom. And by his
cunning, he had drawn many people away after him for he was a wise man in the
ways of the world, and a man after the order of Nehor (Alma 2:1). “Now
this Amlici had, by his cunning, drawn away much people after him; even so much
that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish
Amlici to be king over the people” (Alma 2:2).Amlici’s progress in
convincing the people was alarming to the Nephites and to those who had not
been convinced of his persuasions, because they knew that their laws forbid
such actions except it be done by the voice of the people (Alma 2:3). To such,
the writing on the wall was quite clear—if Amlici, being a wicked person,
should gain the voice of the people, he would deprive them of their rights and
privileges of the church, for it was clearly his intent to destroy the church
of God (Alma 2:4).Now there were two
political divisions at this time in the Nephite Nation. There were the
Amlicites, who thought to make themselves a kingdom, and there were the people
of God, who called themselves Nephites (Alma 2:11). On the one hand were those,
the Nephites, who supported the government, elected officials, and the way of
life their fathers had prepared for them. On the other hand were those who
wanted to have a kingdom, elect Amlici king, and gain control over the lives
and, evidently, fortunes, of everyone else.It had been Amlici’s
intention to bring about a vote of the people, evidently believing he had more
followers than he had, for when the vote was taken, with every man assembling
himself together throughout all the land, every man according to his mind,
whether it were for or against Amlici, in separate bodies, having much dispute
and wonderful contentions one with another” (Alma 1:5). Finally, when the vote
was cast and the ballots laid before the judges, Amlici was defeated in his bid
to become king, thwarted by the voice of the people (Alma 1:6-7).However, like most
despots of the world, the will of the people was meaningless when it went against him. Amlici gathered
his people about him who were in his favor, being angry with those who did not
vote for him. Amlici was consecrated to be their king, and they took up arms
against the Nephites, who were well aware of their intentions. And it was Alma,
as Chief Judge, who went up to battle on the hill Amnihu, which was to the
east of the River Sidon that ran by the east borders of Zarahemla (Alma 2:15).

Alma sent spies during the night to keep tabs
on the Amlicites and on the morrow saw them join with a large Lamanite forceDuring the night,
when the two armies became separated as the Nephites chased the Amlicites across
the hills in a great slaughter, conditions changed and the next day the
Nephites realized that Amlici had joined forces with a huge Lamanite army (Alma
2:27) that were attacking Nephite villages, and as a combined force, were
heading toward Zarahemla.It is not difficult
to see that in life, there are two types of people when it comes to the law,
government, society, and achieving peace—that is 1) those who believe in the "Rule of Law," and
accept the law and make every attempt to live by it; and 2) those who do not
believe in the Law, do not accept it except when it serves them well, and make
little attempt to live by it unless it leads to their end desires.We can also add to
that a perspective of people who basically want what they want in life and want
to get it the easiest and simplest manner possible. If someone will promise
them what they want, it is immaterial who it is that will provide it to them.
Nor do they often look very far down the road as to what will be the results of their getting what
they wanted, both to themselves, to others, and to their community and country.Amlici’s followers
wanted a vote brought up before the people regarding the election of Amlici as
king. The people rejected that. The followers of Amlici made him their king
anyway, and the people rejected that. As king, Amlici led his followers down a
path to war that cost most of them their lives.

Amlici wanted to be king and in the end, he
and Alma fought against one another with swords and Alma was victorious (Alma
2:31)Sherem sought much
opportunity that he might come unto Jacob for a confrontation. Jacob ultimately
agreed, and the result was that Sherem was shown to be a fraud, an enemy to
God, and lost his life. Were it that simple today to expose the frauds in government and those whose will often leads to the destruction of people, communities and nations.